“The first game (of the season) against Aston Villa will be a massive target for me. I want to have a good pre-season, be ready for the start of the season and then play as much as possible.”

The whole country will be hoping Wilshere gets back to his very best, because the midfield prodigy is central to England manager Roy Hodgson’s World Cup hopes.

It is far from certain that Hodgson's men will reach the World Cup, but you will not find a prouder Englishman than Wilshere and there are no doubts in his mind.

Wilshere said: “We’ve got some big qualifiers which are so important for us [in September and October]. I want to be involved for those as well.

“If we win our home games, then I think we will get there. And if we can get there, we will look forward to the challenge.

“It’s in our hands.

“We’ve got one really tough game in Ukraine. We need to get a result there. But if we win our games at Wembley then we can get there.

“We’ve got a young squad, a good squad, and I think we can get the results we need to get to the World Cup. The belief is there.”

Wilshere is similarly optimistic about Arsenal’s prospects as they seek to end an eight-year trophy drought.

Talking to him is so refreshing, as here is a player who is genuinely excited about his football, loves the game and is clearly hopeful that the north Londoners can deliver this season.

At the heart of that, Wilshere is hoping that new big names will come in but he believes the Gunners’ English core, their strong finish to the last campaign and the changing face of the Premier League will leave them in a strong position.

Wilshere said: “It’s such an important year for us. I feel we can win trophies this season. It’s a big year for me and for the team.

“Everything has changed. Ferguson has gone [as Manchester United manager]. Chelsea and City have changed their managers. We have to set our targets high.

“We need to win the big games. Last year, I think we only won once against the other big teams. We need to improve on that.

“We nearly won a trophy two years ago [losing the League Cup Final] and it’s so important to win something. We really need to be up there challenging.

“Last year, we showed we can be a good team during the run-in. We need to do that through the whole season. I feel as if we can win one trophy then it will open up for us and we can win a lot more.

“We had an unbelievable finish to the season.

“We had our destiny put in front of us. We knew we had to win those games and it was a big challenge for us.”